Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) easily defeated Rep. Mandela Barnes (D-Milwaukee) by a 61%-39% margin in the August 10, 2016 Democratic primary for State Senate District 6. Both candidates have been strong supporters of cannabis law reform. Barnes had to give up his Assembly seat to run for the senate. The primary for his old seat was won by former Rep. Jason Fields, whom Barnes defeated in 2012. Taylor and Fields are unopposed in November.

In a May 5, 2016 Q&A with Jessie Opoien of the Capital Times Mandela Barnes said this about AB246: “We have to look at what people are going to prison for, and work to stop people going into the prison system who are non-violent, who are no harm to society. In many cases the only person they harm is themselves – petty drug offenses. (My) marijuana decriminalization bill – anybody who agrees or disagrees with legalization, the majority of people will say, “Yeah, nobody should be in jail for it.” It’s not worth the cost. They find out the price tag – we are spending way too much money to lock people up.”

Thank you Mandela Barnes for fighting the good fight! Cannabis law reform supporters have lost a strong voice in the Wisconsin Legislature